In a Different World with a Smartphone Chapter 368: A New Spark, and Getting a Bride.

A civil wars going to happen in Horn Kingdom soon!?

Yes. Surrounding the throne, the factions supporting the kings grandson and the kings younger brother are facing off against each other.

I unintentionally let out a loud voice in surprise when I heard Tsubaki-sans report.

Horn Kingdom. Its a country situated to the east of Magic Kingdom Ferzen, and north of the former Heavenly Empire Yulong.

With fertile land, a climate blessed by the various spirits, and the hard work of a capable king, its a prosperous country that poured its national strength into agricultural development, and is at the forefront of the Surface World in terms of that.

Its customs and culture are apparently quite similar with Eashen in some places. If this was on Earth, it would be a country in the Asian cultural sphere, so to speak.

A year ago, tragedy suddenly struck the aforementioned Horn Kingdom. The sudden death of the countrys king.

Normally, the crown prince would inherit the throne and continue to lead the country as the new king.

However, the crown prince in question had passed away just one week before the king did, at the young age of 21. Its apparently caused by an accident.

While the late king had no other male heirs, the late crown prince did have a son. In other words, hes the grandson of the king.

As the young child, who was barely over 1 years of age back then, could not possibly lead the country, the prime minister back then acted as regent and took control of the government.

However, the grandsons succession process was called to a halt. The late kings younger brother came out with an objection.

The prime minister who took over governance in place of the grandson was the father of the widow of the late crown prince. Based on that, the younger brother claimed that this is a ploy by the prime ministers family to take over the country, and that he himself is the only person fit to inherit the late kings will.

Actually, there was friction between the king and the crown prince back when they were alive. The king was a conservationist who wanted to preserve the current state of the country, while the crown prince was a reformist who advocated for the inclusion of new industries to the country; they had even openly clashed against each other in the past, apparently.

Its somewhat ironic that those two who, although different in approach, were both thinking of their own country, had passed away at nearly the same time.

It was said that the king had always complained to his younger brother that the crown prince was a possessor of dangerous thoughts that could shake the foundations of this country, and had promised to take the right to succession away from the crown prince, and give it to the younger brother instead.

On the other hand, the prime minister claimed that while the king and the crown prince were in opposition in their views, they understood each other as people both worrying for the country, and had been trying to come to an understanding.

He had also claimed that he was asked by both the king and the crown prince to mediate between the two of them.

With two parallel views, the tension continued rising, until finally the country was on the cusp of war.

Instead of a conflict between the grandson faction and the younger brother faction, its more accurate to say that its between the prime minister and the younger brother instead, I suppose.

Yes. On one hand is the late kings younger brother, Ganossa Da Horn, and on the other hand is the prime minister, Schwein Adante. To Prime Minister Schwein, the late kings grandson, Cuo Da Horn, can be considered his grandson too, since hes the son of his daughter.

Tsubaki-san replied to the words uttered by our prime minister, Kousaka-san, who was standing next to me.

That sounds like a rather troublesome situation alright. Although, problems regarding succession are pretty common in such situations, so it can be said to be natural, as well.

Its normal practice to have the crown prince inherit the throne, but in cases like, say, when the crown prince is a complete fool, and the second prince is a brilliant individual, there would obviously be some confusion. It would be better for the people to have a talented person on the throne, after all.

However, to the king in question, both of them are his sons. Well, as a king it would probably be wrong for him to be swayed by personal feelings, but still.

Still, a civil war, huh. Since it might not directly damage other nations anyway, should we intervene in this matter or not? We might get called out for unnecessary intervention in another countrys affairs, to be honest.

Its troublesome when we dont have connections with the other country in cases like this What are the other countries doing?

Ferzen is watching the situation without doing anything for the moment. They apparently have some connections with both the grandson faction and the younger brother faction, so it might be hard for them to move. However

Tsubaki-san hesitated a bit before opening her mouth.

Theres actually the presence of Yulong in the shadow of this civil war.

Eh?

Yulong? What do you mean? Ever since the grand invasion of the Phrase and the civil unrest that followed, Heavenly Empire Yulong has basically ceased to function as a country.

Right now, only several small cities exist in that region, and they had all declared their own independence. Apparently, even now theres small conflicts between those city-states from time to time.

The lands of Yulong are to the north of Horn Kingdom. Since the grand invasion, the number of people who are flowing into Horn from Yulong is substantial, and a problem has occurred due to that.

A problem?

The people of Horn cannot accept the ones from Yulong into their midst so easily. As a result, many of those from Yulong had apparently become bandits and such, and laid waste to the fertile lands of Horn.

Quite the trouble there indeed.

Still, could Horn Kingdom really not take in the people from Yulong? Wasnt it a rich country blessed in agricultural aspects?

I believe Yulong had also planned to invade Horn Kingdom to its south, just like with Hanock in the west. Not only that, apparently the people of Yulong also belittled Horn Kingdom as a country of barbarians with a lower level of civilization. With the other side being like that, its natural that the citizens of Horn wouldnt take too kindly to the refugees from Yulong.

Umu. If what Kousaka-san said was the truth, then I suppose it cant be helped. Those people from Yulong had looked down on Horn Kingdom all the time in the past, and yet now when theyre troubled, they expect to be helped just like that. Well, theres no way the people from Horn would agree to it that easily.

As you already know, theres a division in Yulong that specialized in things like assassination and sabotage. When the country collapsed, they had all separated, and some of them had drifted over to Horn. There are rumors that those same people are involved beneath the surface of the current unrest in Horn.

Yulongs assassination corps If I remember correctly, theyre called [Kurau] or something. Theyve also targeted me before. They were a group of people who wore masks like the ones in Chinese operas, and were dangerous fellows who would blow themselves up if they failed their mission.

Dont tell me, the death of the late Horn king and crown prince

It could be a crime by the kings younger brother Ganossa or the prime minister Schwein; either one couldve hired the [Kurau]. Or, it could be the act of a third party who wished to lead Horn into a civil war

Etto, assuming the grandson faction hired the assassins responsible

The prime minister would obviously want his grandson to inherit the throne. In that case, the king (if what the kings younger brother claimed was correct) who wanted to pass the throne off to his younger brother would be an obstacle; and for the crown prince, if the prime minister wasnt part of his reformation faction, there could be reason for him to be targeted due to a difference in governing policy. Still, would he kill his own son-in-law for that?

On the other hand, if the younger brother faction was the culprit Well, if the younger brothers side of the story was to be believed, then he shouldnt have a reason to kill either one of them. The throne would come his way in due course, anyway.

If that talk was a lie, and the prime ministers claim that the two of them were trying to make peace with each other was true instead Well, then he would obviously want to kill both the king and the crown prince in order to obtain the throne.

Still, in that case, there are problematic points such as the fact that the kings grandson was left alive even though the younger brother should be aiming to kill all potential successors Umumumu

This is confusing.

Indeed.

Yes.

No matter how many hypotheses we make, without something decisive, we cant actually do anything.

Hmm, well, for the moment I suppose the grandson faction is more innocent-looking? Their potential reasons for killing the king and crown prince are pretty weak compared to the younger brother faction.

Either way, I suppose its better for us to not do anything, isnt it?

The other side isnt in contact with us anyway, so theres no reason for us to involve ourselves. With Your Majestys power, it would be easy to forcefully put a stop to the conflict in that country, but I believe that is overreaching on our part. Or perhaps, would you rather use this opportunity to subjugate Horn with force as the first step of your world domination plan?

Whats this person saying Even though it should be a joke, it doesnt sound like one

To be honest, its not like I cant do that. But still, you know how tough it would be to govern the entire world after I conquered it? I already have my share of troubles with just this small country, too.

Well, for now our countrys development comes before matters regarding other countries. While the number of citizens as well as the size of the town has been increasing, crime rates have also risen in proportion to that. For now, the knight order members as well as Nyantarou- donos feline surveillance network are working hard to protect the town, but I fear the drop in available personnel once the knight order is dispatched somewhere else.

I understand Kousaka-sans worries. Basically, the towns security personnel would be lessened whenever I send knights out for Frame Gear operations. I do wish that large-scale battles wont happen, but with the variants increasing in power and the world barrier weakening, we never know what could happen.

Should we form a guard corps separate from the knight order, as expected?

I suppose. We can let Yamagata or Baba-dono lead it, and make it a division under the country instead of Your Majesty as an individual. If we do that, when Your Majesty is absent, they can still move freely to a degree.

Un, it should be fine if its those two. And they didnt like riding in Frame Gears much to be